updated 11:25 am EDT, Tue April 8, 2008

ASUS Eee PC 900 Celeron

ASUS is still set to ship the second-generation Eee PC without Intel's Atom processor at first, says a reported tip from retailers in the PC builder's home territory of Taiwan. The company's first new batch of micro notebooks is slated to launch with Celeron M processors similar to those in the existing Eee PC due to competitive reasons: with most Atom-based systems set to ship at the same time in June, ASUS' only true method of beating rival Acer and HP offerings was to ship using older technology, according to the claim.

Future updates to the Eee PC line are still expected to receive the Atom once it becomes an option, and should both run faster as well as more efficiently than today's Celeron-based models.

Neither ASUS nor the retail sources have indicated whether pricing is likely to change for any models due to the processor swap. The US version of the 8.9-inch Eee PC 900 is still priced at $499 and is officially scheduled to switch to Atom in May. Most territories will see the Celeron model in late April or early May.